Prior art ink jet printing systems have steady state problems of “spitting” ink from the catcher when used with low surface tension inks. “Spitting” results from a poor two phase flow mixture in the catcher that periodically causes ink to ‘spit’ out. Over time, the ink ‘spit’ from the catcher builds up on the eyelid of the catcher assembly. The buildup, in turn, interferes with the printing drops causing print defects that force the operator to manually clean the eyelid. The solution of decreasing the vacuum supply to the printhead inadequately addresses the “spitting” problem.
The present methods have been designed to solve the steady state problems of “spitting” ink from the catcher.